#EYE - Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs: Entrepreneur of the decade award

On the 10th anniversary of the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme (EYE), two entrepreneurs received the “Entrepreneur of the Decade” award on 18 March in Brussels.

Nelly Davtyan from Armenia was selected as the “new entrepreneur of the decade” and Ioannis Polychronakis from Greece was selected as the “host entrepreneur of the decade”. The EYE helped to establish over 7000 partnerships between new and experienced entrepreneurs across the EU. 14000 entrepreneurs participated in these partnerships and were able to start-up, learn new skills, create new products and services and expand to new markets.

Single Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMES Commissioner Elzbieta Bieńkowska said: "The Single Market is the biggest asset we have. It is especially critical for our entrepreneurs, as it allows them to start, grow and go across borders. I am glad that we have programme that makes them benefit even more from the Single Market. That is why we are expanding to new locations and we proposed further funding from 2021 onwards.”

The EYE programme facilitates the exchange of entrepreneurial and management experience across Europe and beyond. It matches a newly established or potential entrepreneur with a well-experienced entrepreneur running a small business in another country. The exchange is co-financed under the COSME programme, Europe's programme for small and medium-sized enterprises. Between 2014 and 2016 alone, over 250 new companies and more than 2,000 jobs were created thanks to the EYE.

Learn more about the EYE programme on the website and in the EYE 10th anniversary brochure.

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